Some small advice re: Arinsal, Andorra

neil_hosey

Hi There,
Just looking for some advice on this place. We got a price for 10 of us for 7 days, 800 euro each including ski passes and 3 hour ski school each day, does this sound reasonable?

Its the first time for some of these people, and first proper ski holiday for me so not sure if the price is good or bad

wondering is it cheaper to book everything separate and get skipass/rent gear when we get there ?

all advice greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks
Neil

tomaschonnie

Sound like a good price. leaving 9th Jan by any chance? Im heading to Arinsal too.

loobylou

I have always found it cheaper to buy liftpasses in resort. Its pretty straightforward, they're sold at ticket kiosks at the bottom of the main lifts.
With a group of 10 I would also hire skis, boots independently.
By far the worst ever ski/boot hire experience I ever had was in Andorra. We had booked the hire through the travel agent, as had practically everyone else on the bus. There were 30-40 people outside this tiny hire shop the next morning, all clutching our hire vouchers. It took hours to clear everyone, plus we were given the crappiest,most poorly fitted equipment I have ever had the misfortune to use.
Use your group purchasing power to get better equipment at a better price away from the scrum of the tour group.

robinph

You can probably get things cheaper by doing it yourself, but there is a lot to be said for letting someone else worry about it on your first trips. If you've already got the gear hire included in your price then if the bus gets you there during daytime then head along to the rental shop that evening and get your stuff sorted then, rather than during the crowd the first morning.

neil_hosey

Thanks Lads! advice greatly appreciated..

We will go with this deal i guess. Would save the hassle of going and getting skipass/lessons/gear outselves

i dont think we are going unti lthe 19th or something like that

Thanks!

rossc007

Hey Neil,

Sounds like an ok price, but what hotel is this deal for? Was in Arinsal earlier this year

neil_hosey

Yeah am happy enough with it! but wouldnt mind it being cheaper if there was a way around it



we are staying in Hotel St. Gothard. its apparrently outside the town a bit. I dont mind that.

sineadgalway

ski bus stops outside the st. gothard so its not an issue getting to the slopes in the morning, only thing is a bit of a walk home from the pub...

was there for my first ski hol and enjoyed, the ski schools are really good....

Overflow

sineadgalway wrote: »

ski bus stops outside the st. gothard so its not an issue getting to the slopes in the morning, only thing is a bit of a walk home from the pub...

But its all down hill if i can remember correctly

neil_hosey

brilliant! thanks alot lads! made my mindup!

anymore

neil_hosey wrote: »

Yeah am happy enough with it! but wouldnt mind it being cheaper if there was a way around it



we are staying in Hotel St. Gothard. its apparrently outside the town a bit. I dont mind that.

I have stayed there twice and liked it reasonably well. The free ski bus stops right outside the door and you can walk it reasinably quickly if needs be,. Ifg this is your frist time, skiing, then going package is best as you wont need the complications of looking for passes, etc. Let the tour operator arrange it all for you. That in the case of anything going wrong, you have back up. If I remember, dinner isnt served until 7.30 in that hotel, though the rooms did have a bath which is a luxurgy after all day on the slopes. DFont be disappointed if there isnt any snow in the village itself as the ski slopes are quite higher than the village.

anymore

P.S the Hotel isnt really outside the town, just at the edge and the town itself is mainly strung out along the main road.

tomaschonnie

has anyone ever stayed in Hotel Arinsal?

rossc007

tomaschonnie wrote: »

has anyone ever stayed in Hotel Arinsal?

Stayed there in February, really basic hotel, facilities arent good to be honest. Room was really pokey and ours was beside a river with a small waterfall, small enough to make just the right amount of noise to keep you up at night Food was average, not terrible. Location was good in fairness, 3 minute walk to the Gondola, but Arinsal is small so most hotels are 3 mins walk, bar the St. Gothard which is right on the edge of town as someone else mentioned.

If you can afford it, I'd try bump up to the Princessa Parc, its a really nice hotel.

anymore

rossc007 wrote: »

Stayed there in February, really basic hotel, facilities arent good to be honest. Room was really pokey and ours was beside a river with a small waterfall, small enough to make just the right amount of noise to keep you up at night Food was average, not terrible. Location was good in fairness, 3 minute walk to the Gondola, but Arinsal is small so most hotels are 3 mins walk, bar the St. Gothard which is right on the edge of town as someone else mentioned.

If you can afford it, I'd try bump up to the Princessa Parc, its a really nice hotel.

two people i spoke to whilst in Arinsal make similiar comments.

anymore

Maybe it might be worth saying that Andora is quite a poor country and the local shops are similiar to those you might have seen in Ireland in the 70's. Arinsal itself is mainly a tourist town. I enjoyed my two visits there but saw less snow than in any visits i have made to Austria. Someone mentioned that ski schools are good and I would agree with that. What I liked was that you the lunch break was short, about 30/40 mins, and the group and instructor all ate together, and then back to skiing. We finished about 3.00 leaving an hour and half to do your own skiing. In Sol, for example, there was a two hour lunch break on first day and then an hour and a half and every body pretty much went their own way until reassembly after lunch and lessons went on till 4.00, i think. In Arinsal, the whole group stayed together for the week, with nobody joining halfway thorugh the week, and so people progressed nicely and it was very sociable as well. One other advantage for first timers is that lessons are held at the base of the runs and your ski pass allows you full access to the slopes. In St Johann, for the first two or three days, you were confined to an out of the way nursery slope for the first part of the week.
All in all, I thought Arinsal was a good spot to begin skiing.

Re St Gothard: One of the odd things about the hotel is that you go to a desk to order and pay for your drink and then you go to the bar to collect your drink. It is ok if it is quiet, but if it is busy it is a pain - if you like your drink, best to order double rounds !

bcirl03

tomaschonnie wrote: »

has anyone ever stayed in Hotel Arinsal?

Stayed here back in 2002 - basic but adequate for a week’s skiing and would agree with the other comments about the hotel on this thread. I'm sure it hasn’t changed much since I was there.

Arinsal is grand if you’re a beginner, after that forget about it. My trip here was a cheap last minute job towards the end of the season with one such group. Pal is connected and can offer a bit more skiing if you get bored in Arinsal. Pubs are great so that can only help.

Don’t forget to bring your swimming trunks if you fancy an afternoon in the Caldea Spa - http://www.caldea.com/en/ - excellent for the old muscles.

BC

rossc007

Place is great for beginners, I'd highly recommend it for a first timer. Arinsal itself only has a couple or runs, all very wide and all leading back to the same place, so its practically impossible to get lost.

If you do go to Pal, which is connected to Arinsal by a Gondola, its a little more challenging, but well worth a visit even for a beginner. If your looking for something more challenging, Arcalis is fantastic, plenty of off piste stuff, enough to keep anyone amused. It is a bus ride away though

tomaschonnie

rossc007 wrote: »

If your looking for something more challenging, Arcalis is fantastic, plenty of off piste stuff, enough to keep anyone amused. It is a bus ride away though

is it much of a journey? expensive?

rossc007

Theres a bus that goes daily I think. However, all the operators run a coach out on the Saturday, thats when I went out. Took about an hour, maybe an hour and a half. Well worth a visit

tomaschonnie

sweet, ill have plenty to keep me busy for the week!

xxyyzz

Arinsal is a great spot for beginners if you get good snow. There are some nice wide easy runs and the instructors are the best I have come across anywhere in Europe (snowboarding). I stayed in the Princessa Parc on 2 separate occasions. Some great lively pubs in town also. One piece of advice is to stay away from the tap water. When we were there the run-off from the mountains got into the town water supply and a 24 hour vomiting bug swept through the hotel like wildfire. Everyone in our group caught it and I think it was the sickest I've ever been. Apparently it wasn't the first time it happened either. Stick with bottled water.

IrishZeus

What are prices like in Andorra? I've heard its cheap....?

I mean for general stuff, food, drink, day-to-day living kind of stuff....

cocker5

Really sorry but my advice is...... AVOID andorra... went skiing there 5 years ago.... never again even if i got a free trip :eek:... terrible skiing, towns are not nice at all.... in general a horible skiing destination... sorry :mad:

Austria all the way

rossc007

IrishZeus wrote: »

What are prices like in Andorra? I've heard its cheap....?

I mean for general stuff, food, drink, day-to-day living kind of stuff....

Drink was pretty cheap as far as I can remember, also at Apres ski they tend to throw free grub at you, toasties and the like. You can eat for fairly cheap if you like, theres a pub called Quo Vadis that does nice offers depending on what time you go in there. You can eat in nicer places for a little more, pretty reasonable resort in my opinion.

Sounds like Cocker had a rough time, while I'd agree that Austria offers better resorts, Arinsal isnt as bad as he makes out in my opinion and ideal for a first timer Where did you stay Cocker, Arinsal?

cocker5

rossc007 wrote: »

Drink was pretty cheap as far as I can remember, also at Apres ski they tend to throw free grub at you, toasties and the like. You can eat for fairly cheap if you like, theres a pub called Quo Vadis that does nice offers depending on what time you go in there. You can eat in nicer places for a little more, pretty reasonable resort in my opinion.

Sounds like Cocker had a rough time, while I'd agree that Austria offers better resorts, Arinsal isnt as bad as he makes out in my opinion and ideal for a first timer Where did you stay Cocker, Arinsal?

Yeah i stayed in Arinsal.... in princessa parc hotel.... hotel was ok... its just the village was crap... one decent restuarant, pubs were terrible, nothing really going on al all... very little snow if any "real" snow infact..all snow canons... which is sh*te to ski on.... chair life system poor, and very old.... not that many ski runs etc.... . to be honest i got the shock of my life when the next year i went skiing in Austria.... then i realised how actually poor arinsal was....you just acnnot compare Austrai to Andorra on any level.. chair lift systems are fantastic (Mayerhofen, St Anton, Saalbach etc), apres ski is great, tons of pubs, restaurants etc.... it was similar in price to austria.... i would never advise anyone to go there.... start in a proper and decent resort... it will laso help you learn to ski / snowboard better when learning on proper snow etc...

xxyyzz

cocker5 wrote: »

Really sorry but my advice is...... AVOID andorra... went skiing there 5 years ago.... never again even if i got a free trip :eek:... terrible skiing, towns are not nice at all.... in general a horible skiing destination... sorry :mad:

Austria all the way

Were you in arinsal or pas de la casa? Pas has always had a rep for being Ibiza on ice but arinsal is far more relaxed

bcirl03

I wouldn’t avoid Andorra.

Arinsal is for beginners and not quiet up there with the rest of the resorts in Europe. However the Grandvalira region in Andorra has around 200km of skiing and is very difficult to beat. Have a look at http://www.grandvalira.com/en

Just my two cents

cocker5

xxyyzz wrote: »

Were you in arinsal or pas de la casa? Pas has always had a rep for being Ibiza on ice but arinsal is far more relaxed

well to be very honest (and dont mean to upset anyone) but we drove through Pas a few times, town still doesnt look great.... its not even the apres ski in arinsal (which consisted of a tosted ham and cheese and a beer :cool:)... its the chair lift system.. its pretty bad... the towns themselves arent great... never mind having to do a 5 hour bus ride... sorry i just hated the whole andorra thing... even for begineers.. the are far better resorts to start off in than andorra... would never recommend it to my friends even if they were just starting... there was nothing nice about arinsal... sorry Austria on the other hand is amazing... lift systems are great, great snow... not snow canons as in Andorra, towns / villages nice loads of pubs/restaurants /shops... nice apline villages ... im sorry but andorra is not a patch on austria.... dont mean to offend.... :P

rossc007

cocker5 wrote: »

Yeah i stayed in Arinsal.... in princessa parc hotel.... hotel was ok... its just the village was crap... one decent restuarant, pubs were terrible, nothing really going on al all... very little snow if any "real" snow infact..all snow canons... which is sh*te to ski on.... chair life system poor, and very old.... not that many ski runs etc.... . to be honest i got the shock of my life when the next year i went skiing in Austria.... then i realised how actually poor arinsal was....you just acnnot compare Austrai to Andorra on any level.. chair lift systems are fantastic (Mayerhofen, St Anton, Saalbach etc), apres ski is great, tons of pubs, restaurants etc.... it was similar in price to austria.... i would never advise anyone to go there.... start in a proper and decent resort... it will laso help you learn to ski / snowboard better when learning on proper snow etc...

We had fantastic snow when I was there, snowed most nights so we where lucky. You could go anywhere in Europe and if the snow isnt great then your going to have a pretty **** time. Apres ski was OK, went with the missus and we met loads of people there, but Austrian Apres ski is world renowned, you wont get it anywhere else in the world, so its an unfair comparison imo.

There are quiet a few restaurants in the village - http://www.arinsal.co.uk/restaurants.php. Some are pubs\restaurants, but I ate in 4 different places that are pure restaurants.

Bus ride was 3.30 mins from Toulouse, still a pain, but you must have taken the scenic route

I think Cocker must have pulled a she-male or something, I've never heard anyone speak that ill of Arinsal

flikflak

My first ski holiday was in Arinsal and I loved it. The ski school were great and the snow was fine. We went in March and the sun was shining so got a great ski tan too!

Ok its not a pretty as some of the other villages in Austria or Switzerland but I think it was fine for a beginners ski holiday. Lots of apres fun in the Quo Vadis and the the place across the road. My instructor was from Newcastle in the UK and he also worked behind the bar so lots of free shots - woo!!

I stayed in the Solana which was a good location and had a pool. It was clean and tidy which is all you want really in a ski hotel. Get up, ski all day, apres, shower, dinner, sleep. No time to be staying in the hotel.

Have also been to Soldeu and its a little bit less lively but the ski area is great. You can ski over to Pas no problem and there are loads of trails to enjoy.

In the car Toulouse to Soldeu = 2 hrs no bother.

Although I love Austria and would nearly always go there as a first choice I have a soft spot for Andorra and if the price were right I would go there again no problem.

dollybird2

Ok, due to this thread I have book Arinsal.
Flights to Barcelona, accommodation in Hotel Micolau & ski passes & hire for 450 Euro which I am very happy with price wise.
Now I have to organise a transfer from Barcelona airport to Arinsal. Any ideas or advice??

flikflak

^ there are quite a few buses that do that trip. Just google `Barcelona to Arinsal transfer` and you should get a few options.

rossc007

dollybird2 wrote: »

Ok, due to this thread I have book Arinsal.
Flights to Barcelona, accommodation in Hotel Micolau & ski passes & hire for 450 Euro which I am very happy with price wise.
Now I have to organise a transfer from Barcelona airport to Arinsal. Any ideas or advice??

Thats a seriously cheap price :O

Our modest Hotel in Saalbach is 440 per person!

Hope you have a great time

bcirl03

flikflak wrote: »

^ there are quite a few buses that do that trip. Just google `Barcelona to Arinsal transfer` and you should get a few options.

Found the following which might help - http://www.andorra-holidays.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=disp&page=143

Good price and enjoy, do let us know how you got on.

dollybird2

Will do! I'm delighted with price. It is flights to Barcelona for €120, hotel came down from 210 each to 180 each b&b with a bit of bargaining, ski hire coming in at approx 60 and ski pass approx 100 for 3/4 days. Transfers look like they will be about 70 so all in all it's a total of 530 for everything bar dinner & drinks.

Can't wait to go now! Cheers for the links to bus transfers

tomaschonnie

just back from Arinsal, had a great time. snowed the night we came so the snow was decent enough for the rest of the week. loads of skifields in close proximity - i would highly recommend going to Granvalira on a Thursday and definitely go to Arcalis. Pal is also good while the skifield in Arinsal itself is more for beginners but that said its grand. everything is cheap in Andorra especially booze and cigs and the supermarkets are WAY cheaper than Ireland. i would definitely go back.

k123456

Arinsal gets noisy at night, lots of big drinkers and Chavs

Arinsal ski area is very much up and down, one main area, not much to it. Pal is more scenic. Daily free bus to Arcalis, takes 45 mins and offers nicer skiing. Eateries on mountain, all run by one company, poor quality food. If you have time take Gondala to Arinsal town and lunch there. Stayed in Hotel Arinsal , v small rooms, v noisy at night, food fairly good for a 2 star

Laurz858

Im just back from Arinsal too!! A few of us must have been there at the same time!! What a great hol!! Loved the Surf Bar!!! and El Cau was great craic aswell for its Apres Ski and free toasties and The Irish Derby was good for a bita Kareoke!! Couldn believe the price of the drink and fags!!! 8 quid for a litre of Absolute!! Happy Days!!! Many messy nights over there!! There was 8 of us!! Sure maybe was talkin to some of you durin the week! I was there the 2nd to the 9th!! No snow unfortunately!! stayed in Hotel Ayma beside the River! It was a two star but it was grand, did the job and ya got breakfast included everyday!! I thought Francescos was the best restaurant while I was over there, really varied menu and cheap as chips! 360 cooked up a mean steak aswell!! I got my hol for about 700 !200or the hotel, 200 for the ski pass and equipment and 240 for the flights! We flew to Barcelona and then got a bus which was about 70 quid extra! We booked everythin seperate so worked out cheaper!! Ski school was brill aswell and I cud actually ski by the end of the week!! Nearly killed my friend on the Tuesday tho! haha! Really missin the place now and wud recommend it to every1 to try it out! Its great craic!

vk20002000

hi guys... any advice on ski and snowboard hire... i'm looking for the cheapest deal... i've found a few web site and was woundering if i would be better of waiting till i get there and shop around.... theres 9 of us...

Laurz858

Are ya goin to Arinsal? We booked our equipment through Ski Direct, may be worth looking up.. We hired out the ski gear and got the lift pass for 200 quid per head which wasn't bad!!

The Gambler 101

Laurz858 wrote: »

Im just back from Arinsal too!! A few of us must have been there at the same time!! What a great hol!! Loved the Surf Bar!!! and El Cau was great craic aswell for its Apres Ski and free toasties and The Irish Derby was good for a bita Kareoke!! Couldn believe the price of the drink and fags!!! 8 quid for a litre of Absolute!! Happy Days!!! Many messy nights over there!! There was 8 of us!! Sure maybe was talkin to some of you durin the week! I was there the 2nd to the 9th!! No snow unfortunately!! stayed in Hotel Ayma beside the River! It was a two star but it was grand, did the job and ya got breakfast included everyday!! I thought Francescos was the best restaurant while I was over there, really varied menu and cheap as chips! 360 cooked up a mean steak aswell!! I got my hol for about 700 !200or the hotel, 200 for the ski pass and equipment and 240 for the flights! We flew to Barcelona and then got a bus which was about 70 quid extra! We booked everythin seperate so worked out cheaper!! Ski school was brill aswell and I cud actually ski by the end of the week!! Nearly killed my friend on the Tuesday tho! haha! Really missin the place now and wud recommend it to every1 to try it out! Its great craic!

What price does the pubs charge for a pint/bottle, heading there next week and trying budget?

Laurz858

Its about 3 quid for pints and bottles and for eating out for lunch and all ya shud go to Que Valdis! Lovely meals for really cheap! 2 vodkas and red bull is only about 8 quid aswell! So jealous of ya! I wana go back over! Enjoy!